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How would you describe your Eleganza Experience?
My experience at Eleganza was a dream from start to finish. Shopping for my wedding dress was the moment I was most excited about in my whole wedding journey and Eleganza did not disappoint, in fact the whole experience totally exceeded my expectations. Eleganza was the first shop I visited and I fell in love with the first dress I tried on, which happened to be the dress I purchased. My stylist Rachel was an amazing help and picked out different styles of dresses that complimented my figure and looked so flattering on. I visited a couple of other bridal stores before saying yes to the dress but nothing else compared to the experience and dress selection of Eleganza. My sister was unfortunately ill for the days that I tried on my wedding dress and went back to say ‘yes to the dress’. The girls allowed me to FaceTime her on both occasions and made a fuss when my sister came with me to collect my wedding dress, doing a reveal of me in my dress in the stunning front room & taking pictures of us with the I said yes to the dress signs for a second time. Eleganza go over and above to make sure you feel special from the second you enter to the second you leave. Everything was perfect!
Would you like to share with us your proposal moment, favourite part of planning your wedding or what you have planned for your honeymoon?
Our proposal was during lockdown in 2020 when strict covid restrictions were in place. We hadn’t seen our families due to tough covid restrictions and the easing of restrictions on Christmas Day was the perfect time for us to get engaged and share some positive and exciting news in a time of worry and frustration.
As mentioned, dress shopping and finding my dream gown was definitely one of my highlights of wedding planning. Our stunning venue, Trump Turnberry, was another major highlight. My husband Andrew and I love being by the coast so we couldn’t have chosen a more perfect venue to get married. Each time we visited the venue for either planning meetings or menu testing, it was just the most exciting and incredible feeling. It was such a surreal feeling each time we stepped into the venue knowing that we were lucky enough to have our wedding in a fairytale setting. My husband loves a spreadsheet and is a bit of an excel geek, our whole day was meticulously planned and budgeted for over two years in advance. The super long list of things to book and organise surprisingly did not overwhelm us, we loved going over our list and ticking things off as and when they were booked and paid for. It made the journey more satisfying, manageable and kept stress levels to a minimum.
My husband and I love travelling and enjoy being proper tourists! We wanted to book a honeymoon that was busy and ticked lots off our bucket list so decided on a multi destination trip. We went on honeymoon two days after we got married and were still well and truly in the newly wed bubble. We began our trip in Vegas ticking off a helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon, a Cirque du Soleil show and a visit to Hells Kitchen. From Vegas we travelled to San Francisco and took a trip to Alcatraz and travelled the city on a GoCar taking in all the top sights. We then travelled to Miami to embark on a Virgin Voyages cruise for 5 nights. The cruise stopped at Mexico and Virgin’s private beach club Bimini in the Bahamas. From there, we ended our America tour in New York. Some highlights included: visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, attending a Broadway show and rowing in Central Park on the most beautiful summers day. Finally, we ended our honeymoon in the stunning Amalfi coast in Italy. We stayed in Sorrento and visited the beautiful Capri, Positano and Amalfi during our week stay. The 10 flights in 3 weeks was so worth it for all the wonderful places we visited and the incredible memories made.
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Tell us more about your Martina Liana Luxe gown!
I had been looking on Eleganza’s website prior to my in store appointment and had seen a Martina Liana dress that had the ruffle detail as part of the dress. I absolutely loved this feature and was disappointed to find out closer to my appointment that the dress was no longer stocked in store. Eleganza were great at offering up other suggestions and one was adding the ruffle effect to a Martina Liana dress with the Martina Liana ruffle overskirt. As soon as I arrived in the store and saw the overskirt in person, I absolutely fell in love with it and liked that it was very different to anything I had come across. I also liked the idea of having a wedding dress that could provide two looks; having the fuller look during the day with the overskirt attached and taking it off in the evening to show off the stunning detail of the dress underneath. This was the first dress I tried in store on and I cried such happy tears, my guests did too. I felt like a real life princess. I can be quite self critical at times and this was a rare occasion that I couldn’t fault the way I looked. The dress was unique and very different to what I ever imagined myself in. I thought I would choose something quite sleek and minimalist, how wrong was I? I loved the stunning detail on the gown itself and the drama of the breathtaking overskirt. The dress was definitely the star of the show on the wedding day! People couldn’t stop commenting on it and still comment to this day on how amazing the dress is; they also loved the detachable element! The dress matched the venue perfectly!
What was your inspiration for your wedding? Did you follow a specific theme or colour palette?
Our incredible venue’s aesthetic speaks for itself therefore I wanted to keep our decor quite minimalist. I chose to have a neutral colour scheme - creams, whites and golds. My florals included gypsophila, eucalyptus and white roses.
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Tell us more about your Big Day!
Our wedding day was Saturday 8th July 2023 at Trump Turnberry surrounded by 118 of our close friends and family. On the morning of the wedding I woke up nervous but excited and was glad to see the sun shining as it had been forecast to rain leading up to the day! I opened my card and gifts from my husband and cried many tears after reading his thoughtful and emotional words. My room was located above the turnberry helipad which was perfect as my husband was arriving by helicopter. This was kept secret from friends and family, there was lots of confusion amongst the guests when they were asked to stand outside for the grooms arrival. My bridesmaids and hair & make up artist were all watching from the window for the landing and the guest reactions. It was such a lovely moment and Andrew, his best man & groomsmen stepped out of the helicopter looking very handsome and dapper. After this it was time to get into my beautiful dress and get ready for the reveal to the father of the bride. My dad entered the room and was very emotional, as was I. It was such a special moment, one I’ll never forget. My dad told me how beautiful I looked and how proud he was of me. It was now time to leave the room and walk down the beautiful staircase to the ceremony room. I felt calm and excited with only a hint of nerves by this point! My childhood friend Craig sang my flower girl, bridesmaids and I down the aisle to a beautiful arrangement of ‘Songbird’ by Eva Cassidy. As I was walking down the aisle, Andrew shed a few tears and I got more nervous as a result, all I remember is shaking like a leaf! Our ceremony was led by a celebrant and was really personalised and emotive. One of my good friends Ruth played harp for the candle lighting aspect of our ceremony for unity and to remember loved ones no longer with us. During photos, guests were entertained at our drinks reception by a saxophonist and then led into the ballroom for speeches and dinner. The weather took a slight turn therefore we didn’t get to the lighthouse as planned for pictures but planned to do this later in the evening. The speeches were all great and full of humour, although my dads speech lasted the allocated time for all speeches - it was 30mins long! The master of the ceremonies commented that it was the first time she has had to change a microphone during speeches! After dinner we headed over to the lighthouse for some more pictures and then it was time for cutting the cake and our first dance. We danced to a piano version of our favourite song ‘Yellow’ by Coldplay played by our band Funk Nation. There was a short ceilidh and then the band began their set. After sunset we had a fireworks display, sparklers and fountains provided by 21CC. This was such a nice way to end what had been the most amazing day and the guests thoroughly enjoyed this. Everyone headed in for the last hour of dancing before the last dance was quickly upon us. We had been told that it would be a quick day, but nothing could prepare us for how quickly it went by! It truly was the best day of our lives and we wish we could do it all again!
What was the most memorable moment?
Walking down the aisle and seeing Andrew so emotional. I didn’t think he would be so overcome with emotion, it was such a special moment.
Do you have a favourite picture from your wedding day? Why is this image so special to you?
Our images from the lighthouse are some of our favourites as it was this point where we had time alone, minus our two photographers, away from the busyness of the day. It was a calm and still evening, and we really had a lovely moment of just taking it all in. The setting was stunning and we felt very relaxed. Another favourite is the black and white image on the window ledge at the turnberry staircase. It’s a stunning shot, however it took a great deal of work getting myself and my huge dress up there! It was worth it for the shot!
Photographer: AMD Studios | Florist: IAmFlowers | Venue 1: Trump Turnberry | Makeup: Shannon O’Neill | Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Cake: Rosewood Cakes | Caterer: Turnberry | Music: Funk Nation (wedding band), Ruth Mackay (harpist), Craig Forsyth (singer), Konrad Wiszniewski (Saxophonist) | Hair: Nicola Kerr | Decor: Jam Events | Kilts: Kilts4U